Rep. Robert Wexler led not only the South Florida delegation but the entire House in the total cost of trips he took - more than $155,000- that were paid for by third parties.

An analysis of congressional trips by Medill News Service, in partnership with Minnesota Public Radio, found that private interests spent about $14.4 million from Jan. 1, 2000, through June 30, 2004, to send House and Senate members on more than 4,800 trips. Ethics rules allow members of Congress to accept trips paid by others as long as the travel relates to official duties.

A bulk of Wexler's trips were overseas. Wexler is a senior member of the House International Relations Committee. He is the top Democrat on the Europe Subcommittee. He is also the American representative to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and co-founder of the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkish Relations.

From 2000 to 2004, Wexler took 18 trips totaling about $155,137 paid for by 12 organizations. What helped push Wexler to the top of the list was a nearly $30,000 five-day trip to Kazakhstan in May 2002. Paid for by the Jewish Congress of Kazakhstan, the trip was listed as a fact-finding mission and to meet with government officials.

Wexler said he's been involved in Kazakhstan and Turkey in the last two years on behalf of the House, and he's also played a leading role in meeting with European leaders and at least a dozen Jewish communities in Europe to discuss the rise of anti-Semitism throughout the continent.

"You can't get a true feel for all these things sitting at home … if you want to engage in foreign policy in a meaningful way you have to understand the opinion of these people not living in the United States," Wexler said.

Wexler said that while on many of these trips he has telephone conference calls with constituents. Last April at a conference in Berlin, he had such a call with the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.

He hopes constituents "get an unfiltered sense of what is occurring in the international arena at that moment from the mouths of the world's leaders."

He called Saudi Arabia, which he has visited three times in recent years, "the scariest place on Earth I had ever been," citing oppression and anti-American and anti-Jewish sentiment.

Six of his trips, costing $61,518, were paid for by the Washington-based Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, founded in 1989 with the goal of bringing Middle Eastern policy makers, U.S. government officials and international business leaders together in an effort to encourage a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, according to its Web site, Centerpeace.org.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was a far second among South Florida House members in the amount spent on her travel by others. Her travels from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2, 2001, were divided in four sets of travel dates on the expense forms, with different sponsors paying for different legs of the trip. The $44,971 cost was paid for by the Korean-United States Exchange Council, the Jerusalem Fund of Aish Ha-Torah, IDT Corp., the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce and the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think-tank.

All of Ros-Lehtinen's destinations were to Israel and South Asia; she chairs the Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia. She also sits on the International Relations and Government Reform Committees, the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Subcommittee on Wellness and Human Rights.

"Traveling to Mosada and the Golan Heights afforded me the opportunity to witness the factors that affects Israel's security and the imminent threats that are a daily reality for Israel. Such official travel gives my colleagues and me perspective and insight that is vital when evaluating U.S. assistance or determining our bilateral relations with Israel," Ros-Lehtinen said in an e-mail.

Ros-Lehtinen's husband accompanied her on the trip. Her two children accompanied them to Israel.

Congress members may accept trip expenses for a spouse or child, but not both, according to rules in the U.S. House of Representative Gifts and Travel Booklet.

"I have filed the reports as required by Congress. I have filed all the reports as required by Congress. My daughters went to Israel only and their expenses were paid by me," Ros-Lehtinen said in an e-mail.

Rep. Mark Foley had the third-highest total out of the South Florida House members with $32,750. His most expensive trip $8,011 was to India in January 2001 and was paid for by the Confederation of Indian Industry, a nonprofit Indian business organization.

Foley was co-chair of the Indian-American Caucus at the time of his trip and met with leaders of the Indian government. He said during the trip, they discussed a range of topics including software and DVD piracy, the spread of AIDS and health care conditions.

Foley said there's no way to can gain cultural and intellectual insight unless you can make the trip.

Rep. E. Clay Shaw's 12 trips totaled $26,083 and his wife accompanied him on all of them. Ripon Educational Fund paid for three out of the five of his most expensive trips. Shaw is the third highest-ranking Republican on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and chairs its Social Security Subcommittee.

Shaw's spokeswoman, Gail Gitcho, said in an e-mail that Shaw finds the Ripon trips especially informative. She said he went on a Ripon trip to London a few years ago to discuss health care with Britain's Social Security officials and members of Parliament. "This trip was an excellent opportunity for him to exchange public policy ideas as they affect relations between the U.S. and Great Britain," Gitcho said.

Shaw's spouse and grandchildren accompanied him on a trip taken on March 9, 2001, which was paid for by the Aspen Institute to the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

"As in other years, at the request of the co-chairs of the retreat, because of the unique purposes of the event, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct issued a gift waiver that applied to this retreat. The waiver permitted members to accept travel expenses from the sponsor for their spouse and children or grandchildren. While the travel expenses were paid by the sponsor, the grandchildren stayed in the same room as Mr. and Mrs. Shaw," Gitcho said in an e-mail.

Rep. Peter Deutsch took four trips totaling $4,473.89. His most expensive trip of $2,200 was to Cuba for a humanitarian assessment and paid for by the Center for a Free Cuba. His wife accompanied him on all trips and he brought his children on a $1,391 trip for a bipartisan congressional retreat at the Greenbrier resort paid for by the Washington-based Aspen Institute, a nonprofit organization that fosters discussions among policy leaders worldwide.

Macadam Glinn, Deutsch's press secretary, said if Deutsch's wife and children accompany him, they get clearance in advance from the ethics committee.

Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart took two trips with his wife totaling $4,767.89; both were speaking engagements and paid for by Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he received his law degree, and the Cuban Patriotic Council (Junta Patriotica Cubana), a nonprofit group in New Jersey.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who was elected to House in 2002, did not take any trips. Reps. Kendrick Meek and Alcee Hastings took one trip each.

Meek, who was elected to Congress in 2002, took one trip to Chicago in September 2003 for hospice care receptions and meetings. The trip was paid for by Miami-based Vitas Hospice Services, LLC, which employes many of Meek's constituents although it's not in his district, his staff said.

"Trips paid for by third parties can allow members of Congress access to unique perspectives and experiences that are otherwise unavailable," Meek said in an e-mail. "I participate in such travel only when I find the experience would allow me to better serve my constituents in Florida's 17th Congressional district or when I believe it serves the interests of the people of the state of Florida."

Hastings took a $1,300 trip last October, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, that was sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Fred Turner, Hastings' chief of staff, said in an e-mail that Hastings doesn't have any philosophical problem with taking trips paid for by outside groups if he believes that the trip will ultimately benefit his constituents.

On the Senate side, retiring Sen. Bob Graham ranked eighth among all senators in dollars spent on his travel since January 2000 -- with $61,700. The Aspen Institute paid for eight of his 11 trips, which were all abroad except one to Hawaii. Graham is the Democratic leader on the Committee on Veterans Affairs, Committee on Finance, Environment and Public Works, Energy and Natural Resources.

"Senator Graham has a very high regard for the nonpartisan seminars sponsored by the Aspen Institute, which bring together members of Congress with policy experts and leaders from other countries to discuss issues of common interest," said spokesman Paul Anderson. "Senator Graham is very proud of the fact that he helped convince the institute to include among its priorities a focus on relations within this hemisphere."

The institute typically invites spouses to attend with members of Congress, and Mrs. Graham often goes along.

Sen. Bill Nelson took nine trips, according to the travel records, but his staff said the total was eight. Nelson's annual financial disclosure records show he took another 15 trips since January 2000, but the cost is not required to be listed.

Discounting Democratic party events, Nelson took eight trips involving at least partial reimbursement from outside sources, according to the Deputy Chief of Staff Dan McLaughlin. Four trips were for annual Renaissance Institute events and the other four were a college commencement speech, speech for the Florida bar, and two panel discussions on Washington issues - one for the Futures Industry Association and one for CSX, according to McLaughlin.

Nelson's most expensive trip was a $3,072 conference at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia last May that was paid for by Jacksonville-based CSX Corp. McLaughlin said that Nelson was asked by CSX to present an overview on legislation as one of the guest panelists at a CSX meeting.

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